Brady Jardine to undergo career-ending foot surgery
Brady Jardine’s foot hasn’t healed properly.
That wasn’t the worst part of the news the USU men’s basketball senior forward received Monday.
Jardine said he wanted a second opinion on right foot, which he injured in the opening minutes of a home game against Southern Utah in November. The doctor informed Jardine his foot required surgery and competitive basketball was no longer an option.
“It was kind of a shock to be honest,” Jardine said. “My foot felt pretty good. I thought it was getting better. I wasn’t having very many problems or pain in the past week, so I thought he was going to say that it looked good and to start pushing it and getting back into it. When he did the X-rays, it was the exact opposite. He basically told me that if I wanted to use my foot the rest of my life that it needed to be fixed.”
During a game against Southern Utah University, Jardine experienced a Lisfranc sprain, which is a tear of the ligaments that support the mid-foot. Jardine said the injury was a freak accident.
“It was a weird thing,” he said. “Everyone thought I landed (on) someone’s foot or something, but that wasn’t the case. I just planted and turned, and when I turned on my foot on the first play of game, I felt it rip. I didn’t want to come out. I just thought I had a foot sprain, and I wanted to play through it.”
Jardine came down with a rebound three possessions later, felt a pop in his foot and limped off the court to the bench.
The specialist, who informed Jardine of the need for surgery, told Jardine he had no choice but to go through with the procedure if he wanted use of his foot for the remainder of his life. “It was just one of those things that totally caught me off guard,” Jardine said. “I knew it was a bad injury, but I thought I was getting better and on the way out. Now I am headed back down of the bottom of it, so it’s been frustrating.”
USU has struggled without Jardine this season and the Twin Falls, Idaho, native was looking forward to competing next season.
“I was super excited, as far as coming back and playing again,” Jardine said. “I was in the process of trying to figure out schooling and what I needed to do. I was just happy to be able to play again. Being told in one second that that’s not going to happen is a hard thing to deal with. You put so much time into something and it ends. It’s a tough thing for an athlete to go through.”
The news of Jardine’s condition was also a shock to the coaching staff and his teammates.
“It was hard on him, hard on our coaching staff,” USU head coach Stew Morrill said. “We met with him and he was crushed by it and so were we. It is part of life, I guess. The longer we all live, the more we know it doesn’t always go the way we want it to.”
Jardine will be graduating with a dual degree in finance and economics this spring, but the future is now somewhat unknown, he said.
“I have to make a decision in the next couple of months with what I want to do,” Jardine said. “As of right now, I have no idea what path I’m taking or which direction I’m going. I’m as lost as anybody right now.”
Morrill said he’s confident Jardine will succeed in whatever path he chooses.
“You coach a lot of kids in your coaching career when you’ve done it as long as I have, and some you really worry about what they’re going to do when basketball is over,” Morrill said. “And how they’re going to make their way in the world. I have no such concerns over Brady Jardine. Brady will be highly successful. He’s got the drive, the personality, the smarts and all that to make it happen.”
Jardine said he’s grateful for the time he’s spent at USU despite not spending a prototypical four-year career with the Aggies. Jardine’s redshirt was pulled midway through his freshman season when then-sophomore Modou Niang had an injury.
“The things I’ll never forget are the guys I played with,” Jardine said. “We won a lot of games, we won a lot of championships, and we did some incredible things basketball-wise. It’s the guys I’ve played with and my buddies who are family now, and we’ll stay together for the rest of our lives. Those are the things I’ll always remember and always be grateful for.”
Jardine said he’s also grateful for the fan support he experienced during his career.
“I really am grateful for the support I’ve had here through the years,” he said. “That’s the other thing I’ll remember other than my teammates is the fans and the support. There was the Spectrum on Wheels that followed us everywhere — win or lose, we always had people with us. I’ll always be grateful to the Aggie fans and how awesome they have been to me and my team.”
Jardine played in 94 games during his career at USU and averaged 5.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 0.7 blocks per game. He also averaged 52.9 percent from the field and 64.3 percent from the free-throw line.
Jardine had the highest winning percentage of any Aggie, as he helped USU to an 87-17 overall record and a 43-5 conference mark.
Jardine ranks sixth all-time at USU with 70 career blocks.
Morrill said he’s grateful to have coached Jardine.
“Our program will always be indebted to Brady, and I feel honored to have coached such a quality player and person,” he said.
– ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu